So...this is my first FanFic and I'm not sure how to come off as calm, since I'm a little tense. I hope you enjoy the beginning of my first story (still in development lmao)! XD
Chapter 1: The Lion's Fangs Shone in the Face of Death
Leone's body started to curl up within the pile of blood in the cold, dark alleyway.
So this is it for me...No more running from debts, at least...Ha, still trying to entertain myself, even in death...
She curled up tighter, and started to wheeze as blood continued to pour out of her open gunshot wounds.
Damn, these got infected, didn't they? It looks like the bandages are coming apart…
Leone then felt around and found the bandages unraveled and soaked in blood. The blood started to pour out more intensely, like her organs were blowing up, pushing out all the blood, and they won't stop expanding.
Hah…...At least now I can die in peace.
"Damn you, Prime Minister...," Leone rasped faintly.
Leone's life started to flash before her eyes; her time spent at Night Raid with her friends, the ops that she went on, and clear faces started to appear in her eyes, with innocent smiles, and she softly called out each one that appeared before her eyes.
Sheele…Bulat… Chelsea…Su…Mine…Lubb…Boss…Akame…Tatsumi. I love you guys, she chuckled softly. Yes, the Jaegars, too. I still don't like them, but they did try to help us…well, Tatsumi, but still…
Leone felt her eyes getting heavier, like she was going to bed. Every feeling in her body disappeared. I'm coming, guys. She stared back at everyone. They were calling her, laughing, beckoning her to join them. The last thing she remembered is when she heard muffled shouts, and her vision blurred as someone raced up to her body. Too late.
Leone saw herself standing in some sort of spotlight in the middle of a void, with darkness all around. Suddenly, a light shone through the darkness, and she then saw her friends running in a direction, but to where, she didn't know. She swore she even heard and saw Mine turn around and say, "At this rate, you'll never keep up with us." She then stuck her tongue out and turned around to run and laugh with everybody else. Leone started running, desperately, but she couldn't keep up with them. They ran in a cat-and-mouse fashion, changing directions, zigzagging. Leone didn't care; she just wanted to be reunited with her friends. No, family.
Suddenly, everybody slowed down. Leone saw it as a chance to finally catch up with them. She sprinted towards them, using the last of her energy to reach out and embrace somebo-
YOU ARE NOT DEAD YET.
Frost started to seep into the air and seemingly started to wrap itself around Leone, freezing and rooting Leone to the spot. "What the hell is this?" Leone shouted.
YOU HAVE YET TO FINISH YOUR LIFE.
The image of her friends seemed to start appearing spectral. Flashes occurred, changing the background to that of a battlefield. Dead bodies and bloody weapons littered the barren desert wasteland. A major sandstorm was brewing in the background, with flashes of lightning occurring spontaneously. Everybody looked downcast, having shadows cast over their eyes. Leone looked at them and noticed that every person's clothes were bloody. Leone could feel murderous intent coming from everyone, and all weapons were suddenly drawn.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN FINISH?! I died from gunshot wounds…...didn't I?" Leone seemingly asked the freezing air, hesitantly. At this point, what's there that's not to doubt?
A shadowy figure suddenly seemed to appear, or better yet "form," out of existence, and slowly started to walk toward Leone as she struggled with her unresponsive body.
AS MUCH AS I WOULD LIKE TO DRAG THIS LITTLE MEETING, AND SLIGHT TORTURING, OF OURS OUT, I HAVE A JOB TO DO. LIKE YOU, I DISPATCH SOULS THAT AREN'T FIT IN THIS WORLD AND I DEFEND THE PURE OF HEART FROM INTRUDERS WHO SEEM TO THINK THAT ETERNAL LIFE EXISTS HERE.
Leone was taken by surprise when a massive church bell seemed to ring behind her. Everybody seemed to shuffle over to where the noise came from.
"Guys?" Leone called out.
As Leone turned to look at her friends, it seemed that the parts of the landscape started to break apart, shatter rather, and started to float upwards in giant chunks. Giant mountains and castles floated by, along with the remainder of many bodies, skeletons, coffins, and loot. Lots and lots of loot, enough to rival the treasuries of all of the known empires combined. Her gaze then cast down to her friends.
Leone's friends turned to look at Leone with bloodshot eyes, full of hate and malice, and they said, in unison, with a disembodied voice:
LEAVE.
They then proceeded to brandish their weapons and powers, sizing Leone up like they were debating on lunch.
How? Why is this happening to me?
AS I HAVE SAID PREVIOUSLY, YOU ARE NOT DEAD...NOT YET ANYWAY.
"How the hell could you be so casual about this?!" Leone shouted.
IT COMES NATURALLY. ON ANOTHER NOTE, YOU CAN BRAG TO YOUR EXISTING FRIENDS ABOUT DYING AND COMING BACK.
"At this point I don't have anyone left! Akame's probably gone with the wind, and Najenda moved on, to fight in another country for all I know!
Leone swore that she could hear the figure snickering. When I come back, just know I'm going to ram my boot down your throat.
PRO TIP, DARLING: I READ THOUGHTS AS THIS IS MY DIMENSION, BUT NONETHELESS, DULY NOTED. IT'S TIME TO GO, EVERYBODY.
Everybody then advanced on Leone and leapt forward, about to strike with all their might, the thirst for blood streaked across their faces.
Time seemed to slow down for Leone as she stood there looking dumbstruck and terrified. Her own words seemed to fail her.
No, guys, it's me, Leone; Guys, GUYS!
IT'S FOR YOUR OWN GOOD. ALSO, THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH GOING OUT IN STYLE.
Leone shut her eyes tightly. Death truly was scary.
Leone's eyes fluttered open, and she sat straight up. Ow, head rush. After a couple seconds of clearing her head, she took in her surroundings. The room that she was in was a small bedroom, 9' by 6', with its own balcony, not like what you'd find in the slums. The walls had a red wallpaper, with orange fleur-de-lis icons and matching orange silk curtains, with a blue carpet at the foot of the bed and marble tile flooring everywhere else. Huh, definitely not what you see everyday…
Leone then heard a door open. She looked up and saw a girl about her age walk into the room with a tray that had a few cups and plates placed on it, preoccupied with a conversation from the other room.
"…and this is why you aren't in charge of the group. Now, I-"
She stared, jaw dropped, and let the tray slip out of her hands and fall to the floor, shattering the tableware and letting the tray clatter on the ground.
"Oh my God, get Booker, and tell him that the girl's up. NOW!" the girl shouted, barking orders into the other room, never taking her eyes off of Leone. The girl did a once-over and kept her hand hovering over her sword's hilt, Leone returning the same gesture. She was a little shorter than her, around 5'4" (162~163cm), skinny, and had Leone's skin tone (But not my bust *evil grin*.). She had short, black hair with blood orange tips that looked a little sidewinded (How her hair defies the law of physics, I don't know, because no hairspray or gel can do that.). She had on a loose, white collared shirt, a loose black tie with a crest of red and orange (It seems familiar, but I can't put my finger on it…) with a golden necklace of an eagle, a black jacket, leather-laced with pouches, quivers, and a satchel, and a black combat skirt with white combat boots (Hmm, not too shabby.). She had on white fingerless gloves, with a silver necklace wrapped around her hand and a few bracelets (Some hand-crafted from the looks of it…). She had a rapier, along with a huge quiver filled with different colored feathered arrows on her waist, a massive bow strapped on her back, and two golden-plated sawed-off shotguns under her arms, along with a full-fledged shotgun that's strapped to her leg which partially sticks out from under her skirt. She had piercing crimson eyes that studied every part of Leone.
Just at that moment, the girl made way for two guys who rushed into the room. One had fair hair cut short on the sides and left a little longer on the top, lapis colored eyes, His outfit was complete with a red royal jacket, a casual white shirt, a leather necklace with an intricately carved tooth (Probably off of a high level Danger Beast, since the tooth's about 9 inches total…it also probably serves as a very large dagger, too.) hanging off the belt of his navy-colored shorts, and leather boots. He carried a staff, with the shaft made of fiery red wood (I haven't ever seen any kind of wood like that…), the tip was a large, and most definitely exotic blood diamond, and the entire staff was engraved with a tribal pattern (To top it all off, the staff's also encrusted with rubies…must be worth a fortune…mental note taken). The staff was strapped on his back, and he also had a revolver in its holster on his leg. He could pass off as fairly normal, were it not for the spectral colossus towering behind him (I'm feeling very intimidated by the giant…I mean it's like 9 feet tall and it also has a very angry face carved on it…not that I'm intimidated by it...).
The other guy had short black hair, nicely combed with the parting on his left. He had a rough set face, with mahogany colored eyes that scream experience at the top of their lungs. He looked around 5'10", maybe 5'11" and seemed to be pretty skinny. He had on a very weathered (and heavily tailored) black leather trench coat which reached down to his calves. There were small patches, covering up some huge cuts, some (Burn? Or acid burn…) marks, and some bullet holes that seemed to show that he's been experienced in combat. He had on a black V-neck and black (and slightly ripped) jeans, with fully laced-up combat boots. He also had a silver necklace shaped like a hawk, much like the girl he was standing next to, and along with a diamond-studded silver cross laced on a white gold necklace. However, her interest was suddenly drawn to his weapons that he had on him. The only two weapons that seemed to be visible were an oversized sniper rifle (about as tall as him too...) and a giant chromatic sword, with a bright orange-reddish core that seemed to branch out across it. It looked like the core was a parasite, almost. The core seemed to be glistening with red energy that seemed to slowly pulsate, much like a heartbeat. It seemed to release an aura that seemed to weigh down upon everything, almost even stopping Leone's breath short. No doubt at all: He has a Relic, and it just might kill me before I even speak. What a way to go…
As if on cue, the crushing aura that overwhelmed her seemed to subside and the black-haired guy spoke.
"Sorry about that. My Relic oddly enough seems to have a mind of its own and decides if people are with good intentions and by all means, able to be trusted. I'm Booker DeWitt, the blonde douche here is Alexander Brinker-"
The "blonde douche" finally noticed his remark. "He doesn't know what he's saying, love, but you have to know I'm a one-of-a-kind guy," he said, trying to put on a smile.
The girl standing at the doorway finally spoke, but to the "douche." "You really must be down on your luck to hit on girls that wake up from comas," she said, grinning mischievously. He glanced back, fuming at her, but she laughed it off.
She then directed her attention to Leone. "He may not be as bright, but he's like the comic relief of the group. Just call him Isaac, everyone does. Apart from that, I'm Valerie McKay. Call me Val if you want," she said, with a wink.
As Booker walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, Leone sat upright to give him some room.
"Okay, as much as this seems bizarre to you, I need for you to answer a few questions, which I feel can help us both out," Booker said in a friendly tone. "Do you know your name?"
"Leone," Leone said without thinking. Why am I blatantly opening my cover to these guys? I don't really know them and what's to say they're gonna do something else wi-
"Wait. Leone, like THE Leone from Night Raid?!" Isaac almost screamed with exhilaration. He ran up and got on his knees next to the bed, grabbing her hand. "I am such a big fan of yours, like you have an awesome style and yo-"
Isaac was abruptly pushed back by Booker kicking him, thus stopping his raving for the moment. So much for my cover. Since when did I need to care about my cover?
"Isaac, give her some space, will ya? She just woke up from a coma, man. Better yet, go get some tea for everyone here," Booker confidently spoke, with a hint of bloody murder in his voice. Isaac went out of the room, grumbling and muttering inaudible insults as he went. It's clear that Booker was in charge here. "Val, can you shut the door, please? I have a feeling this may need to be private."
As Valerie shut the door, Booker turned to look at Leone directly and said, "As much as you would like to believe that we would do something to harm you, or something like that, but we aren't, I assure you."
Leone decided to be quick-witted about this topic and asked, "Well, how can I trust you? I barely even know you two."
Booker replied, "You can think what you want about us, there's no stopping you, but, if you want us to see eye to eye on everything that we're going to be discussing, you're gonna have to take my word for it. You can take all the time you need to decide. If you want to leave, fine by me, though Isaac may break down as a result," he said, smirking.
"I may need some time to think about this," Leone responded after pondering over Booker's assertion.
"Of course. Take all the time you need. I honestly don't think that you can think well on an empty stomach though. How about joining us for lunch? Maybe it can help you clear your head?" Booker asked.
Leone thought rationally for a full minute before she responded. I can have lunch with them, can't I? After all, if they wanted to kill me, they could've just killed me in my coma, or was it a long nap? Whatever the case, they did have the opportunity, but could they also be holding me captive? I don't think so, as Booker made that point clear. Arrgh, I'm overthinking this!
"Tea?" Booker offered, holding out a golden-trimmed cup filled with tea.
Leone was so entranced in her thoughts that she didn't notice Isaac bring in the cups of tea and hand them to everyone in the room. She hesitated, then accepted the tea graciously. It isn't like me to be uncomfortable in situations like this. What's going on with me?
As soon as Leone was about to open her mouth, her stomach growled, taking Isaac by surprise. Valerie laughed and Booker asked somewhat sarcastically, "So…..you're not hungry? I mean, we got a full seafood buffet downstairs.."
Hi! I'm DarkLyonRiderXD, and thanks for reading through my very first FanFic! I honestly thought that Leone bled out to death in the last episode and I was questioning the wiki to see if she's really dead, but it's not showing anything. The wiki also shows that her Relic's still intact, and I think that it got destroyed due to the Prime Minister's Relic (his ring). Anyway, these are the assumptions from which I modeled this FanFic off of, and I'll be sticking with them to bring Chapter 2 later (not sure what it's gonna be called yet) for those who wanna stick around. :D
I'm apologizing in advance for not putting a date on the release due to school and work and shtuff :0, but I think it'll be coming somewhere around September-November :).
If you guys got any problems, questions, ideas, or concerns, or just want to talk to me, email me at DarkLyonRiderXD at gmail. com (It's not letting me put email links for some reason).
Thanks for reading and I hope you guys stay tuned for the next chapter!
-Dark
